Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence Editor and a world-renowned expert on global security and terrorism issues. He is the author of several critically acclaimed books. His new book, Churchill's First War: Young Winston and the fight against the Taliban, is published by Macmillan in London and Thomas Dunne Books in New York. He appears regularly on radio and television in Britain and America.

We can only defeat Isil with boots on the ground

Finally, our political classes have finally woken up to reality of what needs to be done to tackle the threat posed by Islamist militants in Syria and Iraq.

Having stuck to the ludicrous mantra that, whatever action was authorised against the fanatical supporters of the self-styled Islamic State, there would be "no boots on the ground", it now appears the Government is facing up to the reality that the campaign cannot prevail without at least some military presence on the ground.

For the moment this is likely to take the form of British Special Forces and other Army specialists being deployed to Iraq in support of Iraqi forces, such as the Kurdish peshmerga fighters. But the simple fact remains that these are British boots on the ground, and if they need reinforcements, then more British boots will be sent to the region to support them.

The same dispositions were made three years ago during the Libyan campaign to remove Colonel Muammar Gaddafi where, despite the Coalition's constant refrain that there would be "no boots on the ground", the decisive breakthrough in the war – namely the capture of Gaddafi by rebel forces – was facilitated by British special forces operating on the ground.

It may well be the case that there is no great enthusiasm among the British public for the type of large-scale military interventions we have recently undertaken in Iraq and Afghanistan. But that is no excuse for the Government to try to mislead the public about what is really going on in the fight against the Islamic State.